The contents of a document, particularly in a business environment, are likely to change multiple times throughout the lifespan of the document. Content, be it software code, a business plan, an operations manual, or any other form of data, can be drafted, edited, revised, and expanded upon for years. In this way, many different versions of a document will be created.
The intended audience of a document is also likely to change with time. During the initial drafting, for example, only the author is likely to view the document. Later, a supervisor or editor might be involved, and need to see the current version of the document. Some versions of a document might be suitable for wide distribution, while other versions should be more closely held.
Consequently, content providers may disseminate different versions of the document through different access points. For example, a limited release document, such as the initial draft of the second revision of a document, would be accessible to the author of the document at one URL, while a general release of the first revision of the document is accessible to the public at a second URL, and a more detailed release of the first revision of the document is available to a select group at a third URL. Maintaining multiple access points is problematic, in that it is cumbersome, inflexible, and requires significant overhead to ensure that each and every access point for all versions of the document are maintained and updated appropriately.